Vikings improve to 3-0 with decisive Homecoming victory

Grand Island running back Mitch Fachko turns the corner on his way to the end zone on an 18-yard touchdown run during a 31-14 win against Starpoint on Saturday. (photo by Larry Austin)

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by Larry Austin

The
student section stormed the football field after Grand Island's
31-14 victory over Starpoint on Homecoming.

And
why not? For the third game in a row, the Vikings dominated its
opponent, rolling up 31 unanswered points Saturday after spotting the
Spartans a 7-0 lead.

"You
know what, that's great," That's the first time I've seen
that here in a long, long time," said GI coach Dean Santorio of the
fan reaction. "And it's nice to see students, not just on
Homecoming but the other couple games, have a little student section
to get people going."

"Now
I can't wait 'til the turf goes in and they do it every weekend
Friday night game."

Homecoming
"just wouldn't be the same if we lost," receiver Cyle Alcorn
added.

Starpoint's
Evan Majewski scored a touchdown on the Spartans' second play from
scrimmage on a 50-yard sweep around right end. GI responded with
touchdowns by Anthony Zogaria, Cyle Alcorn, Mitch Fachko and Goc,
along with a 25-yard field goal by Kurtis Johnson.

The
Viking took the momentum away from Starpoint beginning with a punt
block by Dominic Trip, which gave GI the ball at the Starpoint 1.
Zogaria plowed into the end zone on the next play to tie the game at
7-7 with just under three minutes left in the first quarter.

"Tripi's
play on the punt block was huge because we were down 7-0," Santorio
said. "It got us down in there for an easy score and then pretty
much from there I'm really happy with the way our offensive line
did their job up front on our run game. And, again, our run game
opened up our pass game and Quinn did a nice job throwing the
football when we needed to. We want to stay as balanced as possible."

"I
can't say enough again about our defense. After we give up the
score on the second play of the game pretty much from there till late
in the fourth they did a great job there, too," Santorio said.

Alcorn
had a great weekend: he was named Homecoming king on Friday and
caught a touchdown pass on Saturday. Alcorn's TD pass from Quinn
Corrao came on fourth-and-19 at the Starpoint 22.

"The
safety got drawn over to the outside, and our slot receiver just made
a nice catch," Corrao said. "It all started with great blocking
by the line though. They created a nice pocket for me, and I was able
to throw it in there."

Corrao
said the offensive line has done a great job all season, a sentiment
coach Dean Santorio echoed.

"And
I think actually it was his first catch of the year," Santorio said
of Alcorn's TD. "And Ben Goc made a great catch on a great throw
from Quinn Corrao down our sideline. We've had a lot of guys
contribute. I said this is the most kids we've every played in the
last 21 years I've been coaching, the most kids we've every
played through three weeks. I think 22 or 23 guys have gotten regular
time. Which for us being an A school and not having huge numbers,
we're lucky if 15 guys get a lot of action early."

Fachko
(79 yards on six carries) scored on an 18-yard TD run to continue the
season-long trend of a potent Vikings running attack. Fachko, and
backs T.J. Acker (63 yards on 10 carries) and Danny Blocho all ran
well, Santorio said.

Zogaria
recovered a fumble in the Spartans' backfield with a minute left in
the first half, and Johnson and the field goal unit ran onto the
field before the stroke of halftime and tacked on a 25-yard field
goal to give GI a 24-7 lead.

Ben
Goc closed GI's scoring in the quarter, catching a 21-yard toss
from Corrao on an out and up pattern. "Once I heard that call from
the huddle I knew I was going to catch the ball in the end zone,"
Goc said, praising Corrao for his poise in converting plays on third
down and keeping drives going.

After
winning three straight home games, the Vikings finish the schedule
with four games on the road, beginning with Hutch Tech on Friday
night at All-High Stadium in Buffalo.

Playing
the Engineers "should be a tough game. It's going to be fun
playing under the lights," Corrao said. "They've always had a
good team. I know they have some good athletes, but if we play the
way we should, if we play the way we have every single game this
year, there's no way we shouldn't come out with a win."

"I
think we can win anywhere, no matter where it is," Goc added.
"We're a good team, we're a tough team. We can win in any
stadium."